Small Budgets and Big Ideas!

You’re Engaged!  Congratulations, but your parents aren’t paying for the wedding.  How do you bring all your big ideas and dreams to life, when you’re paying for the wedding or you have a small budget?

Together with your fiancé decided what is most important to you.  Write a list of priorities, then decided on a budget and leave 5% of your budget untouched for the unexpected costs.  If your budget is $15,000 and you plan for $15,000 there may be unexpected costs that will be hard to cover, so leave room in your budget for that.  There are sites that can help with budget planning or if you have a wedding coordinator ask if they help with budgets.  DeVassé Design has budget assistants as part of every package we offer.

If you can’t afford lots of flowers when you are looking at venues consider how much creation is needed in the space.  If the space is already beautiful and you don’t need to add more you can save money on decorations and flowers.  If the space needs to be added to a lot you may want to consider a different location. 

Photography usually is very important to couples.  This is what’s going to last throughout the years.  If you are on a budget consider having most your pictures done before the ceremony and then immediately following the ceremony have just bride and groom portraits.  This will help with the amount of time the photographer needs to be on site, which will lower the costs.

One of the biggest ways to save money is to cut down the guest list.  Sometimes this can be difficult for brides and groom since they want to share their special day with everyone, but think about the cost per person.  The cost of food is one of the biggest expenses and it is less expensive to feed 75 people compared to 200 people. 

One thing I advise against is trying to do music yourself.  People try to save on the cost of a DJ by doing it themselves.  This most likely will not work in your favor.  The DJ doesn’t just play music; they help with the entire flow of the event and the energy.  If music isn’t your priority talk to your DJ, often times they can recommend solution to help lower the cost or amount of hours they are hired for. 

Believe it or not one way to help with a tight budget is to hire a wedding planner.  Even if it is just for consultations or day of planning, they can be a lot of help on making sure rentals orders or correct, saving you money on renting too much and avoiding last minute cost because you didn’t rent enough.   A wedding planner can also help with room blocks for your guests, timeline for the event, and making sure you are getting what you paid for from each of your vendors.  One of the biggest ways a wedding coordinator can help is by saving you time.  When couples are paying for their wedding they often have full time jobs and can’t always take time off work to see venues or meet with vendors.  A coordinator can really help with narrowing down the search so you aren’t spending time spinning your wheels.  

*Happy Planning*
DeVasse Design

Wedding Planner or Therapist?

Wedding planning and coordination can be a stressful time for brides, and their mothers. As a wedding planner one of the things I hear most often is that the planning and the event was fun and exciting because they had someone else, their wedding planner, to do all the stressing for them.
That’s the best case, but what happens when the mother of the bride thinks it’s their wedding? After spending money on a wedding planner you want to hear what they have to say and have them do research for you, but sometimes Mom may think she knows best. So what is a bride to do? The relationship between mom and daughter is important especially when planning a wedding. However the wedding should be about the Bride and Groom, so how do you tell mom to be on your side and not against you in the planning process. Here are some tips in dealing with the MOB (mother of the bride).

1) After announcing your engagement have a conversation with your mother about money, what you except from her in terms of help, and allow her to be honest with you on her ideas and wants. If you start off on the right foot most conflicts can be avoided.

2) Ask your mother what is important to her. While this is your wedding sometimes major conflicts can be avoided if you make your mother feel like you are taking into account things she is concern about or important to her. Keep in mind the MOB is excited about this wedding, you’re her daughter and she just wants to be involved and help.

3) Make it clear with all your vendors who has the final say. As a wedding planner I often hear from both the bride and the MOB on wedding decision, I make it a point before contracts are signed that the final say comes from the person who signs the contract, which should be the bride. That way if something really goes array I can go to the Bride ask what she wants and then continue planning.

4) Don’t be afraid to take time to ‘cool-off’ reflect on what an argument was about and don’t be afraid to admit you were wrong or say sorry. In the end your mother will always be your mother so make sure you aren’t being a bridezilla and that you are listening to what your mom is saying even if you don’t agree.

5) If all else fails remember to keep the bigger picture in mind and always conduct yourself in a calm manner. Easier said than done, but give it a try.

*Happy Planning*
DeVasse Design